An evaluation of robotic animal assisted interventions; the Paro Seal, with a vulnerable prison population in a UK Prison

Robotic Animals are a relatively new and, therefore, understudied phenomenon. Robotic Animals have been found to have similar therapeutic benefits to live animals (Banks, 2008). As a result of the benefits seen in other, non-forensic settings, and to apply Robotic Animal Therapy within the field of Forensic Psychology, the current research offers an evaluation of the Paro Seal within a prison setting. The participants were selected from two specialist healthcare units at a local remand category B prison, where the Paro Seal intervention was being piloted. The current research adopted a 2 × 3 mixed ANOVA design by using a control group (N=17) and experimental group (N=18) which were evaluated across three time points (pre-intervention, mid-way through the intervention, and post-intervention). The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Essen Climate Evaluation Schema (EssenCES) were used to identify any changes to mood and perceived social climate of prisoners engaging with the Paro Seal across the identified time points. A matched pairs sampling was used whereby participants were matched on factors such as age, sentence type, sentence length, etc. The research found that there was a significant improvement in positive emotions, a decrease in negative emotions and an improvement in perceived social climate following engagement with the Paro Seal intervention. The findings offer many implications for prisoner rehabilitation which are discussed in addition to the limitations of the current research.